Newman: Celebrate Women's Equality Day by moving us forward (column)

Today is Women's Equality Day, and this is no time for a nostalgic look at past achievements. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott linked arms in the streets of London at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention, they bound themselves to an ongoing struggle: the march for recognition that women, as well as slaves, deserved full human rights with equality of social and economic participation.

American women at the Anti-Slavery Convention, separated from full participation in the conference by a strategically placed curtain, forged an alliance and planned a movement to win human rights for women. At the first women's rights convention in American history in 1848 in Seneca Falls, N.Y., the gathering adopted Stanton's "Declaration of Sensibilities," establishing goals for the movement that won women - including former slave women - the right to vote, 72 years later.

In 1971, 51 years after the right to vote victory, U.S. Rep. Bella Abzug, D-N.Y., led the way to passage of a law commemorating the civil rights struggle of women and declaring Aug. 26 "Women's Equality Day."

Stanton, Mott and Abzug never did and never would rest on battles already won. Although it is a day for reflection and recognition of heroines who led the way, this is most importantly a day for recommitment and continuing resolve to achieve full equality and participation.

On this day, let us think about our victories: the right to vote; equal property protections; the right to privacy in reproductive health; equality of employment opportunity; federal protections against sexual harassment in the workplace; federally protected access to safe abortion services; equality of opportunity in education; strong legal and service programs against domestic violence and sexual assault; and insurance coverage for women's preventive care.

Let us also commit to the struggles confronting us. It might seem lately that on the long march to equality, we have been pushed back. On this Women's Equality Day, it is especially important to remember that the road is long, the march goes on and our American journey toward full participation continues.

Regression appears most consequential where it is most controversial - in reproductive rights and reproductive justice. Many states, including Wisconsin, have passed laws depriving women of access to preventive care and even mandating unjustified medical procedures to block access to safe and legal abortions. To achieve equality, every woman must be free from reproductive coercion, must have access to high quality health care and information and must have the fundamental freedoms of self-determination as a human right.